Summer Sewing Contest

May 28, 2012

Summer is here! Ok, not really, but today is Memorial Day in the United States, which is the day we set aside to remember those who died serving our country in the United States Armed Forces. It is also known as the unofficial start to summer around here. There are tons of cookouts and the pools open. Which was nice here yesterday when it hit 101 degrees at my house! It’s also when I start to get the itch to begin sewing for summer – you know, sun dresses and new bags and picnic quilts. And I hope you are motivated to sew for summer too, because Jennifer over at Ellison Lane Quilts has organized a Summer Sewing Contest that I hope you will take part it.

First for a bit of inspiration… I was hoping to have this quilt finished in time for today’s post, but things got crazy around here and it just didn’t happen. But I am working on a new, giant (for me) picnic/beach quilt for the family. My daughter wants pretty much everyone we’ve ever met to fit on it. So, it’s going to measure 80″ x 80″ and I think we are guaranteed to at least fit her and 10 of her closest friends on it at the park.

I also threw in a couple prints from Sweetwater’s new Lucy’s Crab Shack line. Confession: I don’t eat crab. But I can’t resist the designs and soft colors of this fabric.

I created a 16-patch for each block using 4.5″ x 4.5″ squares, resulting in 16.5″ x 16.5″ unfinished blocks. I plan on making 25 in total. (So far 15 are finished.)

So here is how the contest will run:
1. Sew something fun for summer in one of these 4 categories:You may enter one item in each category.
· Quilts
· Home Decor
· Clothing
· Bags & Accessories
2. Link up your entry at Ellison Lane Quilts: June 10-17.
3. Finalists are chosen in each category: June 18
4. Voting Begins: June 18- June 23
5. Winners announced: June 26

The Prizes:
The winner of each category will receive a $100 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop.

Comments

Hi Faith! Your quilt is going to be adorable! I love simple squares and your fabrics are so beautiful! I like cute crabs (and eat them) and I have just made new make-up bag with tiny crabs. I had to make even treasury list in etsy for crabs because they are so sweet! x Teje

It’s going to be the perfect summer picnic quilt Faith! I love it. Such happy colors and patterns. I am glad you’ll be able to fit the whole crew on there. 🙂
Thanks SO much for taking part in the blog hop my friend! Hope you enjoy the holiday!
xo

Wow! That’s a huge quilt! I am putting a picnic quilt together right now (about 60×80), and always use Warm and Natural cotton batting, but wondering if you (or any of your readers) have a synthetic batting they could recommend? I thought that this might help keep the quilt from soaking up too much excess moisture from the ground…
Thanks!
Patrick

I’m with Patrick – I hate to see all that love and care and time and gorgeous fabrics hitting the dirt and bugs. Perhaps you’ll use a laminated fabric for the backing? I have not made a quilt for outdoors yet, but that’s what I’m thinking. Thoughts?

I’ve heard of people doing that with the laminated fabric. Honestly though, I use a *lot* of my quilts outside for picnics and have never had a problem with getting wet or having a stain/dirt that didn’t come out in the wash. Maybe I’m lucky?

Do you suggest I skip a white background fabric for my quilt top? I thought I’d better substitute a grey or even a coordinating pattern to avoid the possibility of food stains (we have an 18 month old)? We were picnicking today and had a smooshed blackberry under baby’s foot. Fortunately we were using a bedsheet, so no big deal. Thanks!

I probably wouldn’t use a lot of white or white sashing with a toddler eating on it. The quilt I use most for picnics has a charcoal sashing and that seems to work great. 🙂 (This quilt -> http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/?p=385 )

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